The People's Democratic Party (PDP) has denied the purported suspension of Senator Mohammed Makarfi from the party, over alleged anti-party activities.
Felix Hyet, the Kaduna State PDP Chairman, said this in a statement in Kaduna on Tuesday.
"We call you to clarify the purported suspension of the PDP leader, Senator Mohammed Makarfi by a few misguided members of his ward in Makarfi Local Government Area (LGA).
"We want to tell you that those people have no power to suspend the caliber of a member like Makarfi, except the National Leadership of the party.
"There is nobody that played the role of Makarfi during the campaign he led to big towns where we held town hall meetings with political groups, religious and cultural groups. He spent his resources.
"Therefore for anybody to wake up and say that Makarfi was involved in anti-party activities, I say it is a joke taken too far," Hyet said.
He added, "We want to tell the world who Makarfi is, what he has done for the party and we stand by him, we have set aside that misguided press statement because it has no effect, it is therefore null and void.
"Therefore it should be discarded forthwith among all the critical stakeholders we have in the state.
"Makarfi stands taller because he supported the party in the last election. He followed us to all the 23 LGAs on campaigns.
"Already, the majority member of ward Exco, and the LGA Exco have met and they have taken disciplinary decisions that could be meted out to those who did it.
"Let me clarify also that these are people who have been identified as having participated in anti-party activities during the last election under the guidance of their leaders at the state level who never went into any campaign throughout.
"We, therefore, want to call on the people of Kaduna State that Makarfi remains the hero, if there is anything, it is to give grand reception for leading the state successfully in the last general election.
"For clarity, Section 57 (7) provides that notwithstanding any other provision relating to discipline, no executive committee, at any level except the National Executive Committee, shall entertain any question of discipline as may relate or concern a member of the National Executive Committee, Deputy Governor or member of the National Assembly."
NAN reports that Makarfi, a former acting PDP national chairman, was on Sunday allegedly suspended by the executives of Tudun Wada Ward in Makarfi LGA of Kaduna State over anti-party activities.